RALEIGH, N.C. — In order to find the Syracuse starting five, Jim Boeheim said to look at the minutes played. Don’t look at the group who stood on the court for the opening tip.

After a game in which the Syracuse bench outscored the five who started the game, the Orange head coach declared that as a better indicator of who SU’s key players are.

‘These guys have all bought in,’ Boeheim said. ‘I’ve never had a team play this kind of minutes in my 36 years of coaching. I’ve never done this and we’ve really split the minutes up.’

No. 1 Syracuse dominated the bench scoring category on Saturday, as SU’s reserves outscored North Carolina State’s bench players 46-4. For the third straight game, sixth man Dion Waiters led the Orange (11-0) in scoring, upping the ante with a career-high 22 points in Syracuse’s 88-72 win over NC State (6-4) at the RBC Center. The bench was especially key in the first half, as Waiters and forward James Southerland were two-thirds of a three player 3-point shooting brigade. The two, along with starting forward Kris Joseph, spurred a 23-0 run late in the first half and combined for 24 first-half points off the bench.

‘James came in huge off the bench,’ SU guard Scoop Jardine said. ‘Like I said, this team is so dangerous because we can all have six, eight points across the board but when you look up, we got a win.’

Boeheim credited Waiters with really getting the Orange going after a sluggish start to the first half. The sophomore entered with SU trailing 14-7 early and went in hard for a left-handed layup for his first bucket to pull SU within 16-13.

Waiters hit 6-of-9 first-half shots and led SU with 15 at the break. But it was Southerland who really sparked a huge momentum shift in the first half as part of a 23-0 run to put the Orange up big.

‘I think Dion got going, Kris had been going and he kept it going and Dion got going big time,’ Boeheim said. ‘And James came in and hit two 3s, so between those three guys I think it was pretty much those three guys that probably scored most of those 23.’

Boeheim was right. The trio combined to score 19 of SU’s 23 points in its major move. Waiters started the rally when, down 29-23, he penetrated and threw up a one-handed layup over NC State forward Tyler Harris.

Joseph drained a 3 from the right wing, forcing the Wolfpack to call a timeout, now down 30-29. Once SU grabbed the lead, Southerland got hot.

Brandon Triche found him on the right wing the first time, and he drilled a 3 to push SU’s lead to four. On SU’s next possession, Waiters commanded the offense with confidence, finding Southerland on the right wing again. NC State coach Mark Gottfried called another timeout, and Southerland came off the court, hailed by Jardine and SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins for his efforts.

‘That’s the one thing about this team this year. You never know who’s going to be out there,’ Waiters said. ‘If you got it going coach is going to leave you out there.’

Meanwhile, the Wolfpack got next-to-zero production from its bench. Four of NC State’s five starters played 31 minutes or more, and no bench player scored more than two points.

It may have played a role down the stretch, as Syracuse could continue to throw rested bodies on the floor while NC State forward Scott Wood played 39 minutes.

‘We need more from the bench, and it’s not just offensively,’ Gottfried said after the game. ‘We need to get better on defense when we look to the bench.’

Syracuse looked to its bench and found both defense and offense. The stat lines can tell the story: In addition to the points from the bench, Baye Keita delivered two blocks and SU’s second five combined for just two turnovers.

C.J. Fair played 29 minutes, 27 more than starting forward Rakeem Christmas. Waiters played 32 minutes, 15 more than starting guard Triche. And the Orange’s second five outscored its first five 46-42.

‘Everyone in Syracuse thinks I should be starting those guys,’ Boeheim said of his bench players. ‘… All you got to do is look at the minutes and then you can tell who the starters are. If you look at the minutes, you’ll see who’s starting the game. The rest is just standing out there for the first tip.’

mcooperj@syr.edu

Published on December 17, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr